LITTLE OWL

The Little Owl Athena noctua is not a native to Britain, it was introduced in 1842, and is one of 13 different races of little owl across Europe and Asia.
It is our smallest owl measuring only about 22 cm in length and can be seen regularly during the day in open farmland, parkland, hedgerows and orchards, often just sat there on a fence post, telegraph pole, lower branch of a tree or on the top bar of a gate.
It's staple diet of insects, earthworms, amphibians and sometimes small birds and mammals are hunted usually at dawn and dusk.
According to the RSPB, the numbers in the UK dropped by 24% between 1995 & 2008, and it is beleived that a current figure of breeding pairs is somewhere between 5,800 & 11,600

My blip today is a pencil drawing I did some years ago of this wonderful, comical bird, a favourite of many, certainly to those who have witnessed it's antics, with it's bobbing and dipping when alarmed.